


Messages From Rover 1

by lysiabeth



Category: The Martian (2015), The Martian - All Media Types, The Martian - Andy Weir
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Getting Together, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-24
Updated: 2015-12-24
Packaged: 2018-05-09 02:03:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5521412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lysiabeth/pseuds/lysiabeth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>[19:43]MAV: Goddamnit. I leave you all for a few months and it all turns to cow shit.</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Messages From Rover 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ElderPoptarts](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElderPoptarts/gifts).



> Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to Sebby, hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it! I suppose you could call it a getting together fic, but really it's just these three figuring out their feelings in their own wonderful fashion - aka, not so greatly.

Mark was happy to sit at the bar with Chris, the both of them happy to just listen to the sound of the others around them. At least it was until Chris turned to him with a serious expression on his face.

“Buddy, I can trust you with anything, right?” Chris had asked him, and Mark set his beer bottle down as he swallowed his last mouthful, nodding at him.

“Sure. What’s up?” he asked, and Chris seemed to hesitate for a while before breaking into a grin.

“So… I kinda have a thing for Johanssen?” Chris admitted, and Mark covered his shocked face with a cough. He patted Chris on the bicep to get his mind off of the sinking feeling in his stomach upon the confession.

“Man, that is your funeral!” Mark joked, hoping Chris wouldn’t notice the break in his voice. Chris raised his eyebrows.

“What do you mean?” he asked, picking up his own beer bottle before realising he’d drained it earlier.

Mark grinned at him. “Not only would NASA kick your butt, but Lewis? And her warning?” Mark reminded him, and Chris shrugged.

“I’m not planning on… Doing anything! About it, I guess. I dunno, I just like her a bit, not enough to warrant getting kicked off the team,” Chris told him, and Mark nodded. He wasn’t sure if that admission made the whole thing hurt more or less.

“Well, good on you, man. Apart from being a giant nerd, I can totally see the appeal.” Mark commented, and Chris rolled his eyes.

“Coming from the guy who studied botany?” Chris teased, and Mark punched him in the thigh.

“Botany is awesome, man. Just you see,” he told him, and then the barmaid was coming up to tell them that they were closing up in about ten minutes. Mark pulled out his phone to call them both a taxi.

Mark left the bar with Chris. He watched as Chris got in his own taxi before getting in his own, and made a promise to himself that he absolutely wouldn’t think about Chris. And Beth. And definitely not Chris and Beth together. He groaned - yeah, because a year in space with them both would be fine.

That was until Mark had to ‘die’ and get stranded on Mars, and thus of course that’s when shit hit the fan.

\---

Mark sat in the rover, his hands hovering over the keyboard, and took a deep breath. While Mark had been in contact with them for some months, this was different. Emailing Vogel and Martinez was easy enough. Him and Martinez had been as thick as thieves the minute the Ares 3 crew had been announced, and Mark hoped that even his death wouldn’t throw that off. Vogel was also someone that Mark would call himself close to, and emailing him was simple too - like getting in contact with an old childhood friend, of sorts.

Then, that left Johanssen, Lewis, and Beck. Mark made his email to Beth short. While the two of them had been close, he had no idea what he could say to her. He resorted to telling her how much her laptop had helped him out, and hoped she was doing well.

The email to Chris was a little harder.

‘Hey buddy,’ Mark began, going for casual but also something that showed there was no bad blood between the two of them. 

‘I’m gonna be honest with you, here. About two things, actually. Thing is, I’ve kinda had a thing for you since we first met each other in the nutritionists office. You know, those few months after we started our training for Ares 3. It’s no big deal, I’m sure the best of us could probably admit you are a handsome guy, but at the same time I’m telling you this because... I don’t know when, and if at all, I’ll be getting out of here. And right now I reckon you're thinking “What an asshole, he just confessed his undying love for me and then told me he thinks he’s gonna die” but. Well. That being said, you have got to tell Johanssen how you feel about her. I can’t tell you how it’s gonna go, maybe it will go badly. Maybe it will go great, and the two of you will spend the rest of your lives being the Biggest Nerds Ever, and that’s cool. But maybe wait until you’re back on earth as well, you know. I wouldn’t put it past Lewis to throw you out of the airlock for breaking your promise so. There you go. There’s my big email to you.

Watch over the rest of the crew for me,

Mark’

Mark sent the email before looking over it, ignoring the pain in his chest as he did so, and then took a deep breath before moving onto his email for Lewis. Once Mark had finished his emails, he put his suit on, exited the rover, and went into the Hab for the night.

\---

Chris sat in silence in front of the computer, a pen in his hand propping up his chin and his heart aching.

Mark had had feelings for him for… For years. Ever since they had first really got to know each other. The fact that he had kept quiet for so long not only made Chris feel guilty for not picking up on it sooner but also angry. Angry at himself, at Mark, at the situation... All which led to Mark confessing his feelings in the first place.

Chris heaved a heavy sigh and dropped the pen upon his desk, his eyes going to read over the email again.  _ Thing is, I’ve kinda had a thing for you since we first met...  _ Chris read again, in awe at this, because how could he not have noticed? And even more, how could Mark not have noticed his feelings back? All those hours working together, sneaking off to the cafeteria for lunch when they should have been doing something else... Chris had fell hard and fast for Mark within weeks of first meeting him; his outgoing personality and dumb jokes and just Mark-ness about him that of course made Chris go, “Ah yes. This one. This is the one I want.” It was almost similar, the way he had fallen for Beth - the two had got to know each other during his practice walks in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, and Chris couldn’t help himself from being endeared by her. Beth was incredibly smart and talented, and also had a lovely smile and… Chris was rambling. In his own head.

He wanted to both punch and kiss Mark, for sending that email. Sonofabitch.  _ You have got to tell Johanssen how you feel about her.  _ Chris also re-read, as if it were that easy. He could just imagine it now, ‘Hey, Beth. Even though I told you I kinda had a thing for Mark, well the thing is I also told him I have a thing for you. Well, I have a thing for both of you, actually. The only reason this is all coming to light is because Mark is an asshole who just had to die on Mars. Except then he didn’t die, and then sent me an email telling me that he’s had feelings for me for years, but that I should confess to you how I feel so I guess the both of us could have a happy ending. So, what are your thoughts on that?’

Chris leant back into his chair and spun it around so he was no longer facing the computer. Vogel was the only other crew member in there with him and was completely unaware of the emotional turmoil Chris was feeling.

Well, Mark’s advice be damned. If that’s how it was gonna go, then he was gonna go and find Beth right that second and tell her how he felt. Even if there was the risk of Lewis’s wrath, and even Beth’s if she found it all all weird.

If Mark ever did make it off Mars, he would owe Chris a beer. Or eight.

\---

When Mark woke the next morning, he almost immediately went to go and check on his crops. He then remembered that his crops lived no longer, and decided to go out to the rover. He hoped that his crew had gotten back to him after he sent off his emails, but couldn't be sure. Mark stood outside the Hab before entering the rover - his job of taping up the airlock seemed to have held for the night well enough. Still, Mark worried that if he went over and looked at it everything would just explode again. 

Story of his life.

Mark turned away from the Hab and then entered the rover. He waited for the air to pressurise and then even a few extra second before taking off his helmet. Logging in, Mark’s heart warmed when he saw emails from all his crew. Mark started off with Martinez’s. He started off by wishing him well, and finished by making another botany joke.

Typical.

Vogel replied in his own way, and told him to watch the news report he had attached to his email. Lewis’ email made him tear up a little bit - especially once he read her promise to telling his parents about his time on Mars if he didn’t manage to get home, and then there was only one email left.

Mark raised his eyebrows. He could have sworn he saw five new emails, but upon scrolling through his inbox, he saw that the only remaining unread email was from Beth. Mark supposed that was kind of expected. Chris was generally a calm guy, but he guessed the bombshell he dropped yesterday made him angry at Mark. Mark just hoped he wouldn’t stay grumpy for too long. That would just be the cherry on top of this shitcake.

‘Mark.’ Beth’s email began, upon opening it, and just skimming it, he could see that it was long.

Yikes.

‘I’m sitting with Chris here, and he tells me to tell you that you are an asshole. And that you need coaching on what is appropriate to tell your best friend about how you feel about him over email. (I read it, btw, and I kinda have to agree.)’ Mark felt his heart drop. If Beth had read it, then did that mean that Chris had told her… Mark continued.

‘Chris told me how he felt, to which I replied “I know. Even though I am a mega-nerd (as put by you in your own email to me) I actually can tell when someone has a crush on me. Especially when all they do is send out sad puppy eyes to them when they think they aren’t looking.

‘I hope you’ll be happy to hear that Chris actually blushed at that. I wish we had camera’s for personal use up here, because Chris slouching against the Rec room wall with pink cheeks trying to hide into his hoodie sure was something.’ 

Mark laughed at that. God, these two were idiots. While he expected what Beth had to say about Chris would have hurt, it actually just made him happy. And miss them all a lot more, but that was always going to happen when getting in contact with them again.

‘Moving on from this, I have to say it Mark. Even though you have expressed your feelings clearly about it not being out fault, I am so sorry Mark. I can’t put it into words. The two of us were each other’s responsibility the minute we left the Hab, and I warned you about the dish too late - and we all know how that ended. I’m so- I’m sorry. We all are, and I know you’re probably going to write back and tell me to take the apology back, but I’m not going to. Take the apology, Mark, for me’ Beth wrote, and Mark felt his chest tighten. Mark had been explicit in telling NASA, and the crew,that he did not believe it was anyone’s fault. The only fault was the circumstances, and no one could have foreseen those as they panned out. Mark shook his head, not wanting to dwell on that right then, and then finished the rest of the email.

‘Like I said earlier, Chris told me how he felt. And he also told me how he felt about you. He said he was going to email you when he’s sorted some stuff out, but I want you to know: He loves us both, Mark. You maybe don’t want to hear that, after everything that’s happened, but he does. Unfortunately, this whole thing has had to come to light in the most fucked up of ways. It kinda makes me think about what would have happened if you didn’t get left on Mars. (And I'm really sorry for saying that.) But, yeah. Chris says that he’s gonna email you as soon as he’s sent this report through to NASA (if you ask me, he’s just stalling), but I hope you’re doing ok down there, Mark. We all miss you so much, and we’re all so happy you’re alive.

Lots of love, Beth.’

Mark closed the email, and sat back in the rover seat. He honestly didn’t know what to feel, because none of what he had read had been at all what he’d been expecting. He did however worry about Chris - what his email would say, when he’d send it, why he’d been there when Beth had sent hers… It was almost all too much. But Mark, being his amazing self, took a deep breath in, and closed his eyes.

“Fuck it.” Mark finally said, before getting himself ready to leave the rover and start off his day. He was Mark goddamn Watney, for christ’s sakes. He could handle a little waiting - wasn’t that what he’d been doing for the past several months of his life? Waiting, pissing around with things he probably shouldn’t have - looking at you, oxygen regulator - etcetera, etcetera.

Mark also knew that he had to check up on the airlock, no matter how much he didn’t want to, and so with one final look at the rover screen, he put his helmet back on again and exited the rover, making his way back to the hab.

\---

_ [19:22]JOHANSSEN: Hello, Mark. _

_ [19:23]MAV: Johanssen!? Holy crap! They finally letting you talk to me directly? _

_ [19:24]JOHANSSEN: Yes, NASA gave the OK for direct communication an hour ago. We're only 35 light-seconds apart, so we can talk in near-real time. I just set up the system and I'm testing it out. _

_ [19:24]MAV: What took them so long to let us talk? _

_ [19:25]JOHANSSEN: The psych team was worried about personality conflicts. _

_ [19:25]MAV: What? Just cause you guys abandoned me on a godforsaken planet with no chance of survival? _

_ [19:26]JOHANSSEN: Funny. Don't make that kind of joke with Lewis. Or Chris, now that I’m thinking about it. _

_ [19:27]MAV: Roger. So uh... thanks for coming back to get me. _

_ [19:27]JOHANSSEN: It's the least we could do. How is the MAV retrofit going? _

_ [19:28]MAV: So far, so good. NASA put a lot of thought into the procedures. They work. That's not to say they're easy. I spent the last 3 days removing Hull Panel 19 and the front window. Even in Mars-G they're heavy motherfuckers. _

_ [19:29]JOHANSSEN: When we pick you up, I will make wild, passionate love to you. Prepare your body. _

_ [19:29]JOHANSSEN: I didn't type that! That was Martinez! I stepped away from the console for like 10 seconds! _

_ [19:29]MAV: I've really missed you guys. _

Mark smiled to himself as Johanssen continued to talk, bringing him up to speed on what the crew had been doing in preparation for picking him up, and Mark frowned when he read over one of her messages.

_ [19:42]JOHANSSEN: You didn’t hear this, but Chris has been on the commander’s ass or the past three weeks about getting permission to be untethered in case the MAV is too far away from Hermes for him to reach. Lewis is about to have an aneurysm, and has already threatened Vogel into making sure he doesn’t untether himself. Though, Chris has also told Vogel to do it if he tells him to, so Vogel’s hidden himself away from them both to avoid conflict. It would be funny if the circumstances weren’t so dire. _

_ [19:43]MAV: Goddamnit. I leave you all for a few months and it all turns to cow shit. _

Mark hit send and waited for Johanssen’s reply, aware that she was currently doing other things and had told him earlier in the conversation that her replies may be slower. Mark was also aware that he still had a lot of shit - expensive shit - to chuck out of the MAV, but it was good to just sit for a while and talk with his crew in a way that wasn’t heavily censored and checked over by NASA’s psych team before getting to see it themselves.

Mark also wondered what prompted Chris to act out like that at Lewis. The whole crew were aware at how skilled he was in his fields of expertise, and that this wasn’t his first time in space, so it made him wonder why Lewis was so reluctant to not let him be untethered. There was that chance that if the MAV was moving too quickly he could sweep Chris away with him (‘really, Mark, that’s the wording you were gonna use?’) but… Given the circumstances, that was not something he wanted to think about.

Mark watched the screen flash at him for some moments before deciding that he’d check back with Johanssen later, and stood up from the control panel - that he would soon be booting out of the hole the front window had left - and made his way to the lower level of the MAV to begin chucking out any untied pieces of equipment.

He was going to be the most hated guy in NASA when he finally returned home, seriously.

\---

“Hey, handsome,” Mark breathed, smiling up at Chris who looked down at him with a face too mixed with emotions for Mark to make out in the state he was in. His ribs hurt like a bitch, the past few minutes of being resigned of flying past Hermes had spiked his heart rate due to the stress he was feeling, and finally seeing a person - an actual person! - after more than a year alone was all too overwhelming.

Mark was aware of Beck talking, and coming close to him and unclipping him from the seat in the MAV, and taking hold of him and telling Vogel to pull them in. Mark was also aware that he was answering Beck when he was supposed to, and being pulled out of the MAV and following the tether’s line back towards Hermes, and god, he was gonna cry, wasn’t he. It was all fine and beautiful and emotional and wonderful - and then Vogel started to pull them in. 

The change in forces pulled on Mark’s more-than-likely broken ribs, and, wanting to preserve his crew’s joy, Mark quickly turned his comms off, tucked his head down, and began to scream as the pain from his ribs travelled around his body, down his spine and tingled down his arms. It was bruising and suffocating and fucking awful, and Mark, hand to god, thought he was going to pass out. Or die. That would be just typical, wouldn’t it. He could see the headline now: Man Survives Two Years On Desolate Planet, Dies As He Enters Safety.

What a joke.

Except, amazingly, he didn’t. Mark was aware of the airlock enclosing the two of them, and Vogel grabbing his arm so that Beck could untie himself. Mark looked up at the airlock door, and saw Martinez, Beth and Lewis peeking through the small window. Overcome with joy, Mark grinned at the three of them and sent them a thumbs up, turning his comms back on just in time to hear Lewis’s announcement to Earth.

“Houston, this is Hermes Actual. Six crew safely aboard.”

\---

Beth waited in anticipation for the outer airlock to close before Vogel was giving them a firm nod, for them to come in. Martinez opened the door and it slid through the floor of Hermes, and Beth floated into the airlock, grinning as Beck pulled Mark’s helmet off, all six of them yelling at each other, and everyone getting as close to Mark as possible.

“Jesus, what the fuck is that smell?” Martinez yelled out, and Mark laughed at him before grimacing in pain, which caused Beck’s smile to vanish and for him immediately switch to ‘Doctor Mode’.

“I haven’t had a shower in a year and a half, man.” Mark smiled, reaching out and grasping Martinez’s forearm, and Martinez grinned at him while also plugging his nose. Lewis had floated over to Beck’s other side, the two of them already discussing Mark’s recovery. Beth made her way up to Mark.

“Lie prone, it will help your ribs.” She told him, not sure why she was talking so quietly but felt that it needed to be done, and Mark nodded before lifting his legs from underneath him, his whole body moving with it so that he was soon ‘lying’ on his back, and staring up at his crew.

“Commander, I believe the damage should be checked out, ja?” Vogel asked, which led to another conversation and then Lewis and Vogel’s departure from the airlock. Martinez tapped Beth on the shoulder before he left, commenting to Mark about getting in touch with NASA - and Mark made some comment about botany - until there were three left.

“Well. This is absolutely not awkward at all.” Mark finally commented, and Chris sighed as he came up to him and began to push him out of the airlock and towards the medical bay. Beth stayed on Mark’s other side for the duration of the trip, the three of them unsure of what to say. On the one hand, all three of them clearly had some personal things that needed to be said - things that couldn’t be expressed over email, that was - but Mark also needed to be looked over by Beck. Beth could clearly see the toll Mars had took on him - sunken cheeks from extensive rationing, a fatigue that appeared to have set into his bones, and like Martinez had pointed out earlier, he really did stink.

“It’s okay, Mark. We’re all going to be here when you’re done. We can answer any and all questions you have when we know what needs to be done to help you recover.” Beth told him, aware that they had finally made it to the med bay and she would soon have to make her own departure so Mark could get the privacy he deserves, but at the same time, she wished she could stay by his side so she was certain he would be ok.

“You mean that?” Mark asked her, and Beth smiled down at him and nodded.

“I’ll see you two later, Lewis will probably need my help examining the VAL.” Beth said, mostly to Beck. He nodded at her before continuing on with Mark, before Beth turned back towards the controls room where the rest of her crew would be.

** FIVE YEARS LATER **

Mark leant against the wall closest to the cot as Chris spoke softly to the nurse and Beth sat on the bed eagerly, watching the launch of the Ares 5 mission.

“Crazy bastards,” Mark commented, looking down at the baby - his baby, he reminded himself - a small smile playing at his lips.

“What do you reckon, will we make a botanist out of her?” Mark asked Chris as he leant into the cabinet to pick up their daughter, and Beth looked up at him with a face that almost looked horrified.

“Why would you want that fate for our daughter? Besides, she doesn’t even have a name yet and you’re already deciding her future?” Beth asked as Chris cradled her in his arms, and Mark laughed out loud as he looked down at their daughter, her blue eyes wide open and cheeks pink. He pulled a face at her and reached his hand out, her immediately latching one stubby fist around his pinky finger, and pulling it towards her chest.

Mark felt a lump rise in his throat, amazed at all of the things that had happened over just a few short years, and then Beth was excitedly thumping her hand on the bed, causing him and Chris to look over to her and then to the tv.

“Twenty seconds. Begin countdown,” was heard from mission control, and Mark turned to Chris.

“You know, all four of us aren’t going to fit on that bed, right?” Mark told him, pulling his finger out of his daughters fist - and god, did she need a name, because ‘his daughter’ was a damn mouthful - and Chris shrugged.

“If the three of us can squeeze onto a cot up on the Hermes, I’m sure we can handle a hospital bed. A maternity one at that, too.” Chris told him, and Mark sent him a skeptical look before walking away from him and around to beth’s other side. The two of them squished up close to her, Beth grabbing onto Mark’s hand and then Chris’s thigh before kissing their daughter on the head, and then they were watching as the shuttle was taking off, the Ares 5 crew headed for Hermes, and then for Mars.

Mark snuggled closer to Beth, and also slung his right arm over her lap to lay his right hand on Chris’s calf, and Mark settled his back against the bed’s headboard. The shuttle was now zooming off into the Earth’s atmosphere, and Mark smiled to himself. He was safe, with his family, and this was the second best day of his life.

** Fin **


End file.
